Rakshabandhan

 It's around the corner, so here are some thoughts.

India has unique thoughts and traditions rooted in those. The brother-sister bond is celebrated at least in two festivals- Rakshabandhan and Diwali-the tail-end of it. 

I had a long line of cousins- maternal and paternal- so it was like a large family growing up. Growing up in Hyderabad, visits to Pune, the stronghold where multiple cousins lived, were regular, but so were Mumbai, Nagpur, Indore, and sometimes, while living in the U.S., New York and Ohio to meet them. 

More recently, back in India, one regular meeting place was at Shrivardhan on the Konkan coast, usually around New Year. We met with families when possible, and it continued for many years. COVID caused a disruption.

We had a celebration with one elder cousin turning 75 a few years ago- we are certainly not young any more. Will continue meetups as long as possible. Pune continues to be the Head Office, with many cousins settled there now.

This year's rakhi has arrived, so let me pose..

Inaugurating the First Batch in Prestige University

 This is a brand new venture of a group that has been in industry and education for over a quarter century. But it's a special feeling to be a part of a new brand launch, no matter where you are. A sense of being pioneers. A few difficulties do face a newcomer, but overcoming them also requires creativity, and persistence to achieve your goals.

Happy that the initial resistance has been overcome, and an initial Orientation program held. Now, it will soon be time for the serious stuff. Academics. We look forward to moulding some young managers who will go on and embellish the brand, and spread the word that they were among the first to have travelled this path.

Exciting times ahead, for all of us. 

The front entrance.

An intro to Entrepreneurship by Dr. Sanjeev Patni.

Above- Silky, an incoming student, and Dean Arun Bhattacharyya.

Below, the Prestige University team..

Unsolicited Mails

 I have taught marketing most of my working life, and am aware that direct to consumer' is a valid way of generating leads. But I am also a consumer, and have some views about what I am subjected to, as a consumer.

First, when you don't know someone, be extremely polite. Not pushy, aggressive, entitled, etc.

Read between the lines, when a potential customer replies. H.R. guys do it well, they say, "We'll get back to you." They don't say when. It's OK, to remind someone after a week or two, just to check. Not everyday. Not on Whatsapp, not on mail, certainly not on 'social' social media. Because I am there to socialise. If it's a friend I want to talk business with, that's a different thing. 

Learn about education. For instance, last names with a Mr. or Ms. is normal, but in the field of education, Dr. is used if the customer is a Ph.D. -and works for both genders. Not the first name, usually.

A to Z Friend List

 Just checking if the friends I have make up all the letters of the alphabet. In reverse order-

Z for Zargar Basharat

Y- Yamini Shah

X- Xaxa, Ashirwad

W- Writabrita Ray

Vaishali Bathla, and Sonwalkar too

U- Urmi Patel

T- Tanmeet Kaur Sahiwal

S- Sohni Roy

R- Roopsha Chatterjee

Q-Qiao, Yapin 

P- Pratima Gaikwad

O-Owais Qadri

N- Natalija Lepkova

M-Mohan Gopalratnam

L- Leslie Price- Bennett

K-Ketan Joshi

J- Jogeswari

I- Ishita Modi

H- Harshad Lunavat

G- Girija Vemaraju

F- Frane Bhattacharya

E-Ekkirala Vikramaditya

D-Deepali Anurag Joglekar

C- Chittaranjan Paladhi

B-Bhuvneet Raheja

A-Anushka Mishra

Ajit- Iconic Villain

 Nobody who watched Hindi films in the 70s and eighties can forget Ajit. He was suave, well-dressed and had a way with dialogue delivery.

He became a legend because of his lackeys and moll. That means, unlike some contemporary villains, he was inclusive. Only Gabbar after him can claim some credit for mentioning his team members in dialogues.

He was known for Jokes which were partly driven by real stuff from his films, but many were made up. Nobody knows which are which, after so many years.. 

Voltage badhao was one which was real, while torturing someone in his den. I think.

Michael tum saikal lekar jao. Probably this too-

"Ise liquid Oxygen mein daal do. Liquid use jeene nahi dega, aur Oxygen use marne nahi dega."

Raabert (Robert, in his inimitable style) was the other regular in his stable. And of course, Mona Darling!

Some dialogues/jokes that are probably made up, include-

"Mona, tum Tony ke saath mat sona, nahi to monatony ho jayegi." 

Or this dialogue,

"Boss, ye to mar gaya. Iska kya karen?"

""Isko le jaake dafna do. Aur uske side mein ek sui bhi laga do. Phir pulice ise Sui-cide samjhegi."

Great fun!

Legends of Teaching

 I am referring to teaching legends here. There have been quite a few in my student career. Also a few I have seen among colleagues at XIM, IMT, KIAMS, and the IIMs. Usually they have a great connect with students, are empathetic but also tough in grading them.

SK Roy was one phenomenal O.B. teacher. Made a great combination with Gopal Valecha, who was very different, but complemented Prof. Roy very well. I learnt about human behaviour from these two in their courses, and later from observation and applying what they had taught.

JD Singh was simply the best intro to marketing (or Makting, as he called it!) that one could wish for. His gestures, pauses, questions (Is that the only cause?, being his favourite).

Thiru was in a class of his own, and another great teacher with no Ph.D. after his name. Just goes to prove that teaching is an art that can be developed by anyone- non-doctors included. His handling of cases, and interspersing Indian lingo- Hindi, Tamil, etc. was creative! 

Back in school, it was English Literature that was my favourite. (Now, it would probably be history or Geography). And Anjaneya Sastry did create great interest in the Romantic Poets (the birth of the romantic in me!) and Shakespeare. Friends, Romans, Countrymen, I rest my case. It takes great teachers to create interest in a subject.

Upcoming Book Launch in Kolkata

 A friend, classmate and P-in-C from IIMB, who is also IPS and a Ph.D. (aise dost hain hamare), wrote a book. I am conversing with him about it. Since a pic is worth a thousand words, here are the pics worth two thousand .. 

If you like books, him, or me, and live in Kolkata, do make it on Sept 1st.

Using Canva

 I rarely use digital tools or apps, but I got interested in Canva after someone mentioned it, and I saw what it could do, fairly easily. Some of my output-

The Ones That Got Away

 Maybe they are better off for it. I mean, the students who were there in institutes I was in, but who I never taught. Either because I was there at a different time or because I was in an admin. role. Not knowing how lucky they had been, they sought me out on FB and befriended me. And even met me (and often, treated me or called me home!)

Out of many such, the ones I have met in the last few years include Pallavi Bajpai and Shafique Gajdhar (BOTH are my twins, fb says), Sheetal Garg, Ishita Modi, Anurag Sikaria, Swati Jain, Anshita Abhishek Chetty, Abha Anagha Kulkarni, Anushka Mishra, Sirisha Adi, Ananya Nandi De, Anupriya P., Vrinda Khanna, Meghana Khadilkar, Harshad Lunavat, Shatakshi Tripathi, Varun, ....

Some I met at alumni meets, which we did regularly when I was at IMT Nagpur, Ghaziabad, or at NMIMS Bangalore. Some NMIMS students I met only in my office or at Placement parties (Tanya Sardana, is one I remember and Manuja Seth, Divya Anand and Sreelekha Bannerjee too) and the Golf course. Avanii, Rakshita, Muskan, Mahek are some of them.

Jam Gate Outing

 Near Indore, this viewing spot is quite a sight during the season-monsoon. Great views of the surrounding valley and lakes. You can feast on bhutta (corn), bhajiya, and so on while enjoying the atmosphere.

Students- Cat 5

 Indore IIM students

My Students-Cat 4

 Mostly IMtans.

My Students Cat 3

 Some more of a different category- Ok, those from M.P. -Bhopal or elsewhere. They are in a different category- Shraddha, Pallavi and Pooja Shukla too, in addition to Anusha Soni (below), Alisha Thomas (only a Golf student-she teaches Law), Manuja Seth and Tosha Dubey. 

Tosha, second from left.

Pallavi and Shafique.

My Students - Cat 2

 This is the next category or segment. Only I know how they are segmented, as of now.. 

Nikhil Damle, entrepreneur/trainer/consultant

Gayathri, a cricket umpire learns Golf.

Meenu Mynam, now in the Gulf.

Sandeep, now a prof. himself in Ireland.

Jogeswari of Golftriz, and KIAMS.

My Students- Segmented Cat 1

 I just thought of multiple ways of slicing and dicing this data - my student list. Maybe not all directly from a class, but students nevertheless. You can guess what the categories are, perhaps. Cat 1 figure here.